… and he *lives *in south Florida in the offseason. FWIW.
Great. Now I won’t have to worry that Rex Ryan will finally live up to one of his stupid guarantees. Unless he guarantees they won’t make it to the Super Bowl.
Lots of coverage about Manning visiting the Cardinals today. The Cards do have one of the best receivers in the NFL in Larry Fitzgerald. Ten games in good weather or a dome (8 home, at SF, at STL) and no Tim Tebow nonsense to deal with. He’d have a capable backup in John Skelton assuming Kolb is cut.
The Tennessee Titans are in the game.
"“He is the man I want. Period,” Adams [Titans owner] said. “And the people that work for me understand that. They know who I want. I want Mr. Manning with the Titans and I will be disappointed if it doesn’t happen.”
I can’t tell if this is simply an owner venting, but I will note that the Titans drafted Vince Young because Adams wanted him over the desires of the coach and GM at the time. It would be interesting to have Manning back in Tennessee, and playing twice against the Colts would certainly be appealing.
Denver media are reporting that it is between Denver and Arizona and Manning is done with visits. They say a decision will come on Tuesday.
They also say it is most likely Denver. The Tebow fans are in meltdown mode.
ESPN agrees the Broncos and Cardinals are the favorites, however, they say there’s little chance he’ll make his decision by Tuesday. I don’t think the Titans are really in this thing - otherwise they’d be talking to him instead of having their owner speak to the media.
I’d love to see him here in Arizona. Hell, I’d drive out to Glendale to see him play, and I don’t even like the Cards! (Not-so-secret-Secret: most people around Phoenix like another team because so few people are actually FROM this place.)
I think he will. His signing (or not signing) with a team is going to make a tremendous difference in how they approach the free agent market. Manning is fully aware that whoever he signs with is still going to need to hit the ground running on free agents and he’s never struck me as the type of prima donna that would milk the situation for ego.
I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t announce his decision today.
I don’t think he’s being a prima donna. I think they’re saying he is just taking some time to make this decision. He was released Wednesday, he’s heard pitches from two or maybe three teams, and he’s supposedly putting off some exams and throwing.
There’s been a very vocal group in Tennessee that’s been lobbying for Manning to come, and I bet it’s gotten a ton of fan support. Whether the owner wants Manning or not, it’s good business for him to at least *say *he really wants Manning.
It definitely is.
Yeah, Manning must be a great teacher: look at how well his backup performed this last year. Oh, wait. Hmm…
It’s moot anyway. The Broncos have all but admitted that if Manning is signed, Tebow is gone–most likely to Jacksonville.
I overheard (what I can only assume is a rumor) this morning on Mike and Mike that Jacksonville is somehow involved in this…the Broncos get Manning and ship Tebow to Jacksonville in exchange for Gabbert, purportedly for Gabbert to be groomed as the heir apparent under Manning. Weird. Why wouldn’t the Broncos just keep Tebow instead? He’s a PR/money/hype machine.
ETA: Curses, foiled by Frank!
Notice how your list of his qualities doesn’t include “good quarterback?” Your backup QB isn’t going to bring in a lot of money or hype anyway.
I agree that once Manning was gone, little point in NOT pulling the pin on the grenade. I’d lovqe to see the Tebow/Gabbert trade once hmey get Manning.
I really hate the “gave up X picks” for a player, because you wouldn’t say “you gave up X pick to draft a player”, you’d just say “you drafted that player”. “Gave up” suggests to me what you’re giving away in value. If you ignore what you’re getting back, you could have a situaton in which you have the #25 pick in round one, add a 6th rounder and trade up to #23, add a 5th rounder and trade up to #20, add a 4th rounder and trade up to #18, and then you gave up 4 first round picks to draft the guy at #18.
If Tebow were just Tim Tebow, they might keep him and give him a shot to develop, but he’s not just Tim Tebow. He comes with an army of rabid fans who can’t see a single fault with him and who flood radio talk show with ignorant babble, and curse the coaches and management for failing to see things exactly like they do.
Honestly, John Elway and John Fox and the Broncos can’t get rid of Tebow fast enough.
I can’t imagine why any NFL GM would voluntarily bring Tebow’s Army upon himself. I think Elway would let him go for a box of kicking tees right now.
Bumping this thread to say I was right about the 49ers taking a look.
Cards are keeping Kolb. Possible bullet dodged there for the Browns.